This is just a very random one shot that I thought of one day when listening to my boring math teacher drone on about something with goats and chickens… Don't ask… Well, anyways, this is to take place after Naraku and after Sango and Bankotsu get together. This is just a little fluffy piece. Besides I needed a break from my other long, serial fics.
The Trust Game
Sango sighed very lightly as she twisted her fingers around a small pine tree branch, trying to feel her way out of the forest. She heard a little grunt of dissatisfaction from behind her.
"What, you don't trust me?" Came the somewhat boyish voice that still chilled her to the bone and made her heart beat furiously no matter how many times Sango heard it.
The taijiya quickly whirled around to face him, even though she couldn't see him with the blind fold on, "Of course I do!" She assured him, reaching over to touch her beloved's face. However, she missed and got his chest, but that was good enough.
An unhappy grunt was her reply. Then she heard him say, "Come on, let's keep on going," Because he said something, it meant that he had forgiven her, but Sango knew him better than that. Even though his tone was light, she could hear the sourness behind it. Feeling guilty, she made sure to not reach out for anything to grab as she followed Bankotsu. His arm that was wrapped tightly around her waist led her through twists and turns and not once had the taijiya felt anything crash into her. Nothing, not even the littlest of branches brushed her skin.
Sango had to admit that she was surprised. Even she couldn't navigate her way through the forest this well with both eyes and Bankotsu could while leading a blindfolded girl. Maybe I can trust him after all… Well, it wasn't that she hadn't trusted him before. She had trusted him with her life and with the fact that he wouldn't cheat on her like some other perverted monks. But she hadn't really trusted him. Not with everything. No taijiya did. An old saying they had all been taught was that you would never lie to yourself, but other people would.
Disbelief came easily to Sango unless she saw it with her own eyes. It was just that, being a taijiya for some many years and getting all the right, strict training, had worn down her people skills. It was nothing personal to Bankotsu, but she just simply did not trust people. No one at all… That is, until now.
It was a small, simple thing, going through a forest blindfolded, but Bankotsu had promised that he would not let anything hit her and an hour in the forest; nothing had even touched her yet. That was above and beyond what he had promised. Still, it was a little promise, but it touched the taijiya's heart.
"You can take off the blindfold now," A subdued voice said behind her, keeping quiet so that he would not shock her the moment he spoke.
Sango hesitantly did so, pulling the cloth off so that it would no longer block her eyes, and gasped at what she saw. There were on some kind of rocky hills, each artistically scattered with dirt and random wild plants. Lush grass overwhelmed the scenery, making it look like a picture from a painting. The dying sun seemed to set right behind rows of rolling hills, like they were meant to be. Flashes of bright pastel color surged through the sky, making everything look unbelievably beautiful and perfect.
There was only one word to describe this all, "Wow," Sango breathed, amazed.
Bankotsu smiled at her stunned reaction, but as Sango carefully dissected his facial expression, she realized that his smile was fake. Does he still think that I don't trust him? Guilt invaded the girl's features. "You know that I do trust you, right?" Sango asked, gently patting him on the shoulder.
"Yes, I know," The boy replied looking away.
A frown overcame Sango's pretty features. How could she make him believe her? Suddenly the breath-taking view wasn't as beautiful as she pondered over this new dilemma. A new idea popped into her head. What about the game Kagome showed us a few weeks ago? What was it called again? Oh yeah, the trust game… "Hey, Bankotsu?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you want to play a game that Kagome taught us?"
"Sure," Came his monotone answer.
Her eyebrows knitting together in frustration by the unhappy tone of his answer, Sango decided to hurry up. "If I fell, would you catch me?"
Bankotsu turned his head to look at her, confused, "Of course!" he said.
Sango smiled. Well, lets see if you really would. The taijiya then closed her eyes and without a second thought, she leaned backwards with her arms spread out. She felt no fear in her body at all. She was so positive that her beloved would catch her. However, when a second passed by and the girl was getting closer and closer to the ground, her logical mind kicked in and panic filled her. Uh oh! She thought as she practically felt the earth slamming into her body, here comes the pain!
But, to her surprise, a pair of hard, warm arms stopped her fall inches before she hit the ground. She opened her eyes to find a worried pair of azure blue ones staring back. A small sigh of relief escaped from her lips. For some reason, even though her logical mind was freaking out, her subconscious mind knew all along that Bankotsu would catch her. Even though the logical part of her, which had had strict training beat into it, screamed it's mistrust, every other part of her truly believed in Bankotsu. If he told her to fling herself off a cliff right then, she would. Sango had total confidence in this man she loved so much.
"Sango!" A voice hissed in her ear, "Are you alright? I think you almost fainted here!"
"Yeah, I'm fine," Sango explained, "And no, I didn't faint."
"You didn't faint? Then what was that collapsing thing about?"
"That's the game I told you about!"
"A game where you faint?"
Sango cringed. Maybe she should have explained about the game before she just randomly collapsed. No, she defensively thought back, that wouldn't have worked. If I had told him, there would be no doubt that he would have caught me. It's better to test him like this… "No, it's called the Trust Game." She explained, "It's where one person falls back and trusts the other person to catch him or her."
"Oh," Bankotsu said, marveling at the stupidity of some of these games, "Well, why didn't you tell me first? You could have hurt yourself or something."
"Yeah, I know. But, I trusted you." Sango said, shyly looking away. A moment later, she couldn't help it anymore and stared back at him. He wore a smile on his face. It was so genuine and happy that Sango couldn't help but smile back at him.
"Well, now that I know how to play, lets go for round two, shall we?" He asked, holding out his arms.
Sango enthusiastically nodded, then moved five feet away, "Makes it a little bit more interesting," She explained, giving him a sly smirk.
"Ready?" Bankotsu asked.
Sango nodded, and then leaned backward. To her dismay, Bankotsu caught her before she had even begun to fall down more than a foot. The taijiya turned around sharply to glare at the boy.
"What?" He questioned, confused.
The girl sniffed loudly, "That was much too easy."
"Well then, how about ten feet away?" Bankotsu helpfully offered.
"Nope, that's too easy as well." Sango looked around the mountainous scenery, her eyes landing on a shallow cliff about only ten yards high, "How about that?" She pointed to it, shielding her eyes from the bright orange sun.
Without waiting for his answer, she sprinted toward the rocky overhang and slowly climbed up it, careful not to slip. Once she was up on the top, hovering above everything else, she pointed toward Bankotsu at the bottom, anxiously watching her every move, "Scoot back ten feet," She ordered. The mercenary reluctantly did so.
"Sango," She heard him call from below, "It's too dangerous to-" But it was too late and she had already fallen backwards and was heading toward the earth at an incredible speed. Mumbling a curse under his breath, Bankotsu raced to save her before she hit the sharp, rocky ground.
The mercenary inhaled deeply in relief as he just barely managed to snag the girl before she hit the ground to her doom. Sango landed in his arms bridal style. The slayer winced slightly at the crushing muscle she had landed on. That's going to leave a bruise, She thought with a frown.
Then, Bankotsu carefully put her down on the ground, afraid that she might break if he handled her too harshly, "Is that enough cliff diving for you?" He sarcastically asked.
Sango smiled, her chest swelling with happiness. She felt so ecstatic right then. But, then again, who wouldn't be after finding out that they could truly trust their beloved? "Yes," she agreed with a nod, but quickly frowned as a new thought popped into her head, "But, wait, I still want to try something else."
Bankotsu sternly shook his head, "Nuh uh. I'm not letting you fling yourself off a thousand foot mountain if that's what you're asking."
The taijiya smiled slightly, "Nope, that's not what I'm asking."
"Then what do you want?" He interrogated.
Sango gently cocked her head to the side, "Do you trust me?" She asked.
"Yes, of course I do!"
The girl folded her arms over her chest, "Then prove it."
"No way," Bankotsu quickly said, taking a step back.
"Why not? You don't trust me?" She asked, pouting slightly.
The mercenary sighed, "It's not that, it's just that," He gestured toward her, "Look at you," He said, eyes roaming her petite little fragile figure, "And look at me," He said, pointing at himself, indicating all his weight and muscles.
"So?" Sango asked, raising an eyebrow slightly at his over exaggeration, "I've battled demons stronger that you. Your weight will be nothing compared to them."
"Sango…" Bankotsu was still hesitant, "I'll squish your little delicate body like a bug." He said.
"Don't be silly," Sango frowned, holding out her arms. Then she paused, "Well, even if I can't hold you up, at least you'll have something soft to land on, right?" Bankotsu laughed at that.
"Come on," She further encouraged, "Please?"
Bankotsu let out a little sigh, "Ok, fine… But don't blame me if you end up with a broken arm," And with that, he turned around, ready to fall. Taking a deep breath and closing his eyes, he leaned backward and… it ended faster than he thought. In less than a second, he was in Sango's arms, the ground very close, but nonetheless, she had caught him. Bankotsu was surprised, but then again, he wasn't so surprised. He had always trusted Sango from day one and this proved it.
Grinning her satisfaction, Sango gently helped Bankotsu up and they both stared at each other for a while in mutual respect. A small hand slinked to the mercenary's face as their intense gaze continued. His heart fluttering like a trapped bird in a cage, Bankotsu began to advance toward her, his eyes still permanently planted onto her rich chocolaty ones…
They were close now… Just another inch and-
"Sango!" A man's bellow rang out from within the forest. Sango quickly let go of Bankotsu and they both stepped away from each other, red in the face.
"Sango!" Someone else called out. This time, the voice was distinctively female. The taijiya sighed her discontentment.
Bankotsu offered her a little smile, "Looks like your friends are looking for you." He said, "I've got to go."
"Right," Sango said. They both knew why he had to go; Inuyasha. Bankotsu had still never gotten over the fact that Inuyasha had killed him and Inuyasha just plain didn't like Bankotsu. "Bye," She whispered after his retreating form.
Inuyasha and the others were very close now. She could sense his demonic power and Kagome's spiritual ones. Exhaling softly, Sango glanced back at the very spot where Bankotsu had disappeared. Knowing how fast he was, the taijiya reckoned that he must be far away by then… Here was the last test of her trust. Would he pass? Not even bothering to think about it, Sango arched her back as she began to fall, her eyes closed tightly in hope.
When she opened them again, she found herself in the warm embrace of her beloved. He raised an eyebrow critically, "I almost forgot something," He said, his hands gently stroking the small of her back as he held her in that odd position. Bankotsu dipped his head to make contact with her lips. Then, as quickly as he appeared, he disappeared once more; leaving Sango sprawled on the ground, her pulse going too fast to be good for her health.
Sango gasped oxygen, her head spinning from the kiss. Trust was very hard to obtain. Most lovers would never truly feel that way toward each other for years and years. However, Sango had trusted Bankotsu after knowing him for a week… They must've really been madly in love…
Ok, a little mushy and freaky, I know... But how'd you think of it? Review, please!